Guitar Center

Guitar Center didn't "used to be better" because the people working there used to be better, it used to be better because the PEOPLE SHOPPING THERE used to be better. We want so badly to deal with young kids buying their first guitar and experienced players looking to upgrade. But instead we get nothing but a bunch of fat divorced dads, wannabe broke ass rappers, an autistic ass neck beard muhs, and the trashiest trash of people trying to sell us their Gunk covered first act. You think YOUR expectations aren't being met when you coming to Guitar Center, try working there, you would swear to God there's a short School bus parked out front at all times consistently overloading us with short bus people. More on reddit.com

Most Guitar Centers operate like the WalMart of music retail. You’re expecting employees who largely make under $20 an hour to maintain hundreds of guitars on a daily basis while operating a large store understaffed. I’m not exactly sure what you were expecting, unless you’re looking to ask for a discount, I wouldn’t be buying a high end instrument from them either that’s been out on the wall like that. Guitar Center is great when you need a few packs of strings and a Player Strat. Not great for a $4,000 guitar. That kind of stuff you buy from a boutique retailer who specializes in that stuff and will give you the white glove service. More on reddit.com

They focused on selling to beginner players for so long where margins on products were maybe okay years ago. But selling in bulk. With the new ceo they are trying to go more mid/up market where nowadays margins are better. Who knows if they will succeed, but your experience doesn’t look great. More on reddit.com

First thing: they have 45 day return policy so you should be covered should you find anything you don't like after you receive the guitar (minus the shipping cost). What I recommend is call the specific store that has the used guitar, talk to an associate, have him/her visually inspect the guitar and play it for you so you can better assess the condition since the pics are terrible. All else being equal, I always prefer buying used from GC/SamAsh because of their return policy. You don't get that anywhere else. FYI, just bought a used Furch from GC and couldn't be happier. More on reddit.com